CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Jets’ first-round draft pick, safety Calvin Pryor, continued to work his way back from a concussion Thursday, when he practiced on a limited basis and wore a red (non-contact) jersey.

Pryor sustained the concussion Saturday and entered the NFL’s post-concussion protocol, for which he has to pass a series of cognitive tests and be cleared by an independent neurologist before he is allowed to fully return to practice. Pryor did not practice Sunday, Tuesday or Wednesday. The Jets were off Monday from practice.

"He’s a little ways behind, but he has time to catch up," said defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman. "He was doing well prior, too, before we got the pads on. We expect him to come back. He’s been paying attention in meetings, but it has to transfer to the field. We expect him to be a pretty integral part of the defense."

The assessment of Pryor's head trauma levels, as spelled out by the protocol, is continuing now that he is back at practice on a limited basis. The protocol states that a player has "a gradual return to practice and play." Dom Cosentino described the situation quite well in this post, in which he wrote ...

In a nutshell, once Pryor's head trauma analysis returns to normal—both at rest and with exertion—after repeated testing by the Jets' neuropsychologist, and once he's been examined and cleared by both the Jets' team physician and an independent neuropsychologist, he'll be good to go.

Pryor did not participate in team periods Thursday, so he has yet to participate in offense/defense team periods since the Jets began full-pads practices Saturday. Pryor was injured in a kickoff return drill. Because Pryor is still in the protocol, he is not allowed to speak with reporters.

Pryor’s action Thursday was limited to position drills. He broke up a pass in a drill pitting wide receivers against defensive backs.

Jets coach Rex Ryan said after practice that Pryor has been cleared for physical activity, but not yet for contact.

If you want to check out the the NFL's concussion protocol, you can read the entire thing here.